Monday, February 28, 2005

Turkey sick with its "lumpen nationalism"

Many Turkish intellectuals or journalists have a strong and clever analysis of their own country and its problems. Fine paper of Dogu Ergil about what he calls a "lumpen nationalism" facing the Kurdish Question in Turkey. Here is the bright conclusion :

" In defense of Turkishness, meaning the official definition of citizenship in Turkey, other ethnic or cultural identities have become the "other". The insistence of incorporating Kurdishness into Turkishness, rather than uniting them in the general framework of citizenship, has created two conflicting nationalisms. Rather than creating a citizens' synergy, Turkish nationalism and Kurdish nationalism have been sharpened against each other like two blades. Turkish nationalism has become even more narrowly focused in recent years as an antithesis of Kurdish nationalism; this has come about in defense of the unity of the country and the "nation" that is defined as Turkish. Such nationalism is indubitably xenophobic and authoritarian. How, then, can it be the political vehicle to make Turkey become a global or even a regional actor?

Kurdish rebellion made Turkish nationalism even more ethnocentric. Additionally, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and intentions of regime change in Iran and Syria contaminated Turkish nationalism with anti-Americanism as they evoke fears of possible scenarios for Turkey.

There are enough conspiracy theorists among the statist guard and nationalists to amplify fear and suspicion of the "imperialists". When one of my graduate (doctoral) students mentioned "EU imperialism" as if it were a matter of fact during a presentation she gave in class, I was awestruck. She was even more confused when I asked her for concrete proof of this so-called imperialism. It was too obvious for her to find supporting evidence. What have we done wrong? Where did we go wrong in rearing such a paranoiac generation? Is foreign policy really a conspiracy of imperialist scheming? Or have we denied ourselves the knowledge and instruments of understanding to see ourselves as members of a greater contemporary world, a world we have come to fear so much? I am honestly confused."

F.ex. in Kirkuk in Northern Irak, the Kurdish people treat the Turkmen minority extreamely bad!

It's impossible for Turkmen lawyers, teachers and doctors to get jobs in that area, the Kurdish leaders only want Kurdish people to have these kind of important jobs. (Instead the Turkmen people are offered jobs as taxi drivers, renovation/cleaning.

If the Kurdish people really want freedom, they should start to treat other peoples in a more respectful way than this.